The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell (Review)

The Other Typist follows the life of Rose Baker when the addictive Odalie walks through the police precinct doors. Rose Baker is an orphaned woman working as a typist in a police precinct. She transcribes the confessions of criminals that pass through the precinct. Odalie is then hired as a new typist and Rose, as well as many others, fall under the typists captivating new spell. Rose is then dragged into Odalie’s world as their friendship blossoms and is unaware of the dangers which her obsession has.

Through the first half of the book it gives the impression that Rose has romantic feelings for Odalie, despite her constantly telling us otherwise. She is attracted to Odalie due to the life which she leads. She is dangerous and toxic. She spends her nights in illegal speakeasies, and her days writing up the confessions of criminals. Rose is soon dragged into this luxurious lifestyle and her friendship blossoms with Odalie, even though she is aware of Odalie’s manipulation which she has seen and experienced. Their friendship is fascinating and exciting and I am glad I got to read it. Rose’s narration was very good, and I found her character very likeable. Rose takes her job quite seriously and praises herself at the fact that she is the fastest typist yet doesn’t make mistakes. Odalie is the opposite, and Odalie’s typing has mistakes. Odalie was also a great character. One which I disliked, yet loved. She was highly interesting and I wanted to read on to see how her story panned out, and who she really was.

It was a fairly slow book, but suspenseful. The Other Typistseems to be recalling a story from Rose, who knows the outcome of her friendship with Odalie. Perhaps she is an unreliable narrator? Who are Rose and Odalie? I wasn’t sure about The Other Typist to start with and it really did take me a while to get fully engrossed (hence the 4 stars), but it really grew on me and I was dragged into the story. The writing was superb, and to say this is Suzanne Rindell’s first novel is surprising. She writes very well and I look forward to reading more from her.

I really did love the ending. I couldn’t say that I was completely surprised by the turn of events. There were clues which were dropped about here and there and I did manage to put it together just before it was revealed. Despite this, I did still enjoy it and I really did love the last chapter. If you are a fan of historical fiction, and mystery then I highly suggest you pickThe Other Typist up.

MY RATING: ★★★★★

EDIT
After looking back, I’ve changed my mind about the rating, so I’ve moved it up to 5 stars!